White Christmas in Karakura Town
by xTitex
Summary: An IchiHime Christmas


I do not own the right the these characters or Bleach. The rights to Bleach, and all of it's characters are owned by Kubo Tite.

* * *

**White Christmas in Karakura Town**

The sunlight hit the window, refracted, and bent at just such an angle that it pierced her closed eyelids. Orihime opened her eyes, and squinted slightly at the bright light. Of course, seeing the morning light shine through her window, her eyes widened and her seemingly never ending smile appeared. She jumped out of bed, and went to look out the window. Her eyes widened even more, and her smile became brighter than the light that woke her, as she realized what was happening outside.

"Snow," she said, almost in awe. Then a little disappointment could be heard in her voice as she shook her head slightly, and said, "But, it's not enough."

Orihime proceeded to make herself breakfast, if one would actually call it that. Wasabi waffles was one of her own creations, and Orihime did seem to enjoy it. After breakfast, she got ready for school.

As the same sunlight that awoke Orihime so refreshingly hit Ichigo's eyes, he pulled the pillow over his eyes. Grumbling inaudibly muffled sounds could be heard as Ichigo picked up Kon and threw him at the window in an attempt to fight off the morning.

"Heeyy," Kon cried out, flying through the air. "What the hell did you do that for?"

Ichigo answered with more inaudible grumbling.

"What?" asked Kon, "How am I supposed to understand you with that pillow over your face?"

Removing the pillow, Ichigo sat up, and said, "If you won't be useful and shut the curtains, at least Shut Up, so I can sleep."

"Yeah, but Ichigo?" replied Kon. "Ichigo?"

Ichigo did his best to ignore Kon. Pulling the pillow back over his face, he tried to go back to sleep.

"Ichigo?"

"WHAT?" Ichigo yelled, though it was still a little muffled from the pillow.

"Ah, don't you have to go to school today?" questioned Kon.

Ichigo snapped up, "Shit, you're right! And I've missed more than enough already." Ichigo threw some clothes on and ran out the door. It wasn't until he got outside that he realized it was snowing slightly, and his T-shirt would not be enough against the cold.

"Stupid snow," Ichigo mumbled to himself as he headed back to his room. "It could, at least, be enough to cancel school, so I could go back to sleep." He entered his room to find Kon mumbling something about "Nii-chan" in his dreams. _Lucky bastard, _Ichigo thought to himself. I should wake him up, make him take my body to school, and go back to sleep myself. As soon as he thought it, Ichigo shook his head. "No, that would be a really bad idea," he said to himself as he grabbed a jacket, and ran back out the door.

Running at a fairly quick pace, Ichigo turned the corner, and bumped in to Chad, knocking himself to the ground. He jumped back up because the ground was cold and slightly wet from the snow. Chad, who was out of breath himself reached his hand down to help him, but Ichigo was already up. They both laughed and caught their breath a little.

"Are you running late too, Chad?"

"Yeah, some things never change," Chad cracked a rare brief smile, answering in his understated deep voice. They both laughed again, remembering all the time they had run into one another being late for school over the years. Ichigo thought for a moment that ritual may be the reason they had first become friends.

"I guess, we better get going, Chad," Ichigo stated, as he looked poised to start running again.

"I think we're OK now, Ichigo. And, besides, I just can't run anymore," exclaimed Chad still inhaling deeply from running himself.

"Oh, alright. I guess it doesn't look as bad if we are both late," Ichigo smirked. They both laughed as they walked on.

Upon reaching the next corner, they met Orihime walking up the other side of the block preparing to cross the street. "Good morning, Ichigo," she blushed slightly. "Good morning, Chad."

"Good morning, Orihime," Chad replied. "Are you late too?"

"Late?" she questioned. A big smile crossed her face when she replied, "No, silly, I left ten minutes early today.

"Well," Chad replied, we only have five minutes left to get to school on time.

"What?" Orihime exclaimed, as she checked the time. "Wow, I guess I spent too much time appreciating the snow. Chad managed another rare smile.

"Appreciating? Bah," Ichigo chimed in. "What's to appreciate? The snow is cold and wet."

"No, no, Ichigo-kun," replied Orihime. "The snow is beautiful, but, this is not enough."

"It's enough for me," Ichigo responded.

"Well, I was hoping there would be enough to last through Christmas, Ichigo-kun. If I could have just one thing for Christmas, it would be snow so I can see a White Christmas. This will never last. Ichigo-kun, if you could have anything for Christmas, what would it be?"

Now, it was Ichigo's turn to blush. Chad, noticing the look on Ichigo's face, and deducing his thoughts, smirked slightly, and he let out a chuckle. It seems his smiles were getting much less rare.

"What are you laughing at?" Ichigo asked, avoiding Orihime's question.

"Nothing, Ichigo, nothing," Chad continued to chuckle.

The three walked on reaching the school doors just as the bell was ringing.

After school, Chad was waiting for Ichigo, when Orihime and Tatsuki exited the building. "Good afternoon, Chad." Orihime said brightly with a smile.

"Hello, Orihime. Hello, Tatsuki," Chad said.

"Waiting for Ichigo, huh?" asked Tatsuki. "He may be a minute. I think the teacher asked him to stay behind to talk to him."

"Oh," Chad shrugged, "What else is new?"

"Yeah," Tatsuki laughed, "Probably because he keeps missing so much school. Come to think of it, you guys have missed a bit recently too."

"Uh, yeah," Orihime blushed, "I guess there must be something going around." She giggled apprehensively.

Tatsuki eyed her a little suspiciously when Chad broke the moment, saying quietly, "Yeah, guess so."

At that moment, just as Tatsuki was turning her attention to Chad, Ichigo walked out. "Hey, guys," Ichigo said, "Ready to go?" They started walking away from the building.

"We were just talking about how you all seemed to miss similar amounts of time from school lately," said Tatsuki, attempting to extract some kind of information from Ichigo.

"Yeah," he laughed a little, and replied, "Must be something going around."

Tatsuki frowned, and gave up.

"So," Orihime broke the silence, "are you all going to the Christmas party tomorrow?"

"I'll be there," replied Tatsuki.

"Yeah, probably," said Chad.

"Uh, uh, I hadn't really thought about it," responded Ichigo.

"But, Ichigo-kun, everyone will be there. Christmas wouldn't be the same if your not there."

"Uh, OK then. I'll go, if it will make you happy, Orihime."

Orihime's smile beamed, "It will," she answered.

They continued to walk on until they came to an intersection. Here, Tatsuki excused herself because she needed to go a different direction to get home. "Wait, Tatsuki, I'll go with you," Orihime stated.

"Alright then, let's go!"

"Bye, Ichigo-kun, bye Chad-kun," exclaimed Orihime, as she walked away with Tatsuki.

"Bye, guys," added Tatsuki.

"Bye."

"Bye," Chad and Ichigo said in unison.

The two girls went their own way, as the boys turned the other direction at the intersection and walked on. "So, what are you getting Ichigo for Christmas, Orihime?" Tatsuki asked.

"I don't know. I can't seem to come with any good ideas, Tatsuki."

"Well, I can think of a good idea," interjected Tatsuki.

"Really?" Orihime smiled, "What is it?"

"Never mind," Tatsuki laughed, "why don't you just get him cologne or something."

"Oh," said Orihime disappointed, "I thought you had good idea. I thought of that, but I want it to be special. I do have one idea, but I'll need Isshin's help. That's it! I'll go to his clinic and ask," Orihime said excitedly. Suddenly she was in a rush. "Thanks, Tatsuki, I have to go," Orihime said hurriedly and started to run of in the direction of Isshin's clinic.

"Yeah, sure, no problem," Tatsuki said confused, as she stared off after Orihime. "Special, huh? I could give you a real good idea for that one," she said to herself as she continued to walk home.

As Ichigo and Chad walked in the other direction, they had their own dialogue.

"Hey, Ichigo, what are you gonna get Orihime for Christmas?" asked Chad.

"I don't know, Chad, I haven't really been thinking about Christmas at all. I wasn't even planning on going to that party until Orihime said she wanted me to be there."

"Yeah, I know what you mean, but it will be nice to spend some time with all of our friends. We haven't been able to do that much lately. Y'know? Just spend time," stated Chad.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Ichigo replied.

"Anyway, now that she asked you, you should probably get her something."

"I know, Chad, I just don't know what. It's not like I can make it snow," Ichigo half-halfheartedly laughed.

"I'm sure you'll think of something," said Chad, as they got to the intersection where they would part ways.

"Thanks, you're a big help," Ichigo said, and he began to walk of on his own. "See later, Chad."

At Isshin's clinic, Orihime and Isshin were just finishing up their conversation. "Well, the sick don't get days off, so come back tomorrow around 1:00 PM, and I'll bring you what you need," Isshin finished his remarks.

"Oh, thank you, Isshin-sama, thank you. That will be wonderful, I know Ichigo-kun will like it," Orihime replied.

Isshin responded in his usual silly way, "What's with this sama stuff? Just Isshin is fine." He laughed, "I hope you can someday feel comfortable calling me Dad." He laughed some more, as Orihime blushed. "Are you sure that is what you want to give Ichigo?" asked Isshin, a little more seriously.

"Yes, don't you think he'll like it?" she asked.

Isshin smiles his goofy smile, "Oh of course, he'll like it."

"Good, you scared me for a minute," Orihime replied. "OK, then," she begins to run out of the clinic, "I'll see you tomorrow."

As Orihime runs out, Isshin says to himself, though still out loud, "He'll like it. I just don't know how he will react to it."

Ichigo arrived at home with confusion still taking up his thoughts. He entered his room to find Kon either still dreaming, or dreaming again. He lay down, kicking Kon off the bed out of spite. With a thud, Kon awoke. "Hey, what you go and do that for? I was having a beautiful dream."

"Yeah, yeah," Ichigo replied, "You can tell me about it later. I have a problem."

"Oh, what is it? How can the mighty Kon help you?"

"I don't know what to get Orihime for Christmas."

"Orihime-san? Just get her some pretty perfume, girls like that kind of stuff," suggested Kon.

"Yeah, I thought about that, but it doesn't seem enough," Ichigo replied.

"Flowers, then, girls love flowers."

"I'm not gonna get her something that will just die in a week," yelled Ichigo.

"Hmmmm," Kon sighed, stumped.

Ichigo thought maybe someone in Soul Society could help. He decided to make a trip there, and see if maybe he could find Rukia. She would surely have some ideas. Upon getting to Soul Society, Ichigo first came across Toshiro and Rangiku.

"Ichigo, what are you doing here?" asked Rangiku.

"Uh, Toshiro, Rangiku, hi. Ah, have you guys seen Rukia?"

"How many times do I have to tell you? It's Captain Hitsugaya to you."

"Now, now, Captain, pipe down," Rangiku chastised. "No, Ichigo, we haven't seen her. Her and Renji have both been going on about this party of yours, and as the day draws nearer, we see less and less of them. I think they are a little caught up in the excitement," she giggled. "I mean we're going too, but we're not obsessed about it."

"So, you don't know where I could find her?"

"Well, I suppose, at the Kuchiki mansion, if you think you can get Byakuya to let you talk to her," Rangiku explained.

The thought of Byakuya made Ichigo feel less like a Christmas Scrooge himself. "Yeah, I don't really want to deal with that, but I need help."

"What is it, Ichigo? What happened?" Toshiro asked concerned.

"Calm down," Ichigo explained, "it's just that I don't know what to get Orihime for Christmas."

"Oh," said Toshiro, "I thought it was some thing important. Just get her a nice ice sculpture. Would you like to commission me?"

"Oh, I said pipe down already," Rangiku blurted out, and then she smiled widely, and a little wickedly. "Why didn't you say so, Ichigo. I'm your gal. You can count on me to help." Rangiku grabbed Ichigo by the hand, and said, "Come with me."

Ichigo was a little scared, as he mumbled to himself, "What have I gotten myself into?"

After spending a few hours of the afternoon with Rangiku, rejecting one idea after another, Ichigo was ready to give up. Rangiku seemed a little exhausted herself. "Well, I thought you would have liked that last idea. Women love that kind of stuff, and, I don't mind saying, the guys seem to rather enjoy it as well," explained Rangiku.

"No, it's a good idea," Ichigo responded, "But, it's just not something from me to Orihime."

"OK, fine, mister cover everything up, then how about this?" Rangiku emerged with a beautiful white gown. Ichigo's eyes lit a little as he imagined Orihime in that dress.

"You know, that's not bad. It's beautiful actually. I think that could work," exclaimed Ichigo excitedly.

"Thank God! It's about time," said Rangiku. She even packaged and wrapped the gown for Ichigo. "Well, off with you then."

"Thanks, Rangiku, I'll see you at the party."

"Bye, Ichigo."

With that, Ichigo left Soul Society. He went home, to finally get some sleep. The next day came, Christmas Eve, and the time for the party was drawing closer. Everyone was in their respective homes getting ready in some way. Ishida was finishing up tailoring his very classic tux, Orihime was deciding how to ware her hair, Chad was showering, Tatsuki was trying on different dresses in the mirror as she doesn't get to dress up often, Rukia and Renji were getting ready in Soul Society, and Ichigo, was, of course, sleeping until the last possible moment.

Finally, the part had come, and the hall was filled with friends. Orihime stared, wide-eyed at the decorated hall. It was wonderful. There was a huge Christmas tree in the middle of the room, ornate decorations all around, a gorgeous spread of food on the buffet table, and the lights were amazing. Orihime saw Rukia, and went to say hello.

"Rukia, you look beautiful," Orihime said. Rukia was wearing a long, black gown, and Orihime had never seen her so dressed up. She had exquisite pearl earrings, and a beautiful diamond pendant around her neck.

"Thank you, Orihime. So do you, as always," Rukia responded.

At that moment, Renji walked up, and said, "Hello, ladies."

Orihime's smile broadened as she looked upon Renji. She laughed a little and said, "Wow. Look at you Renji. I never knew."

Renji smiled, and tugged at his jacket lapels, spinning around to show himself off. Orihime had definitely never seen Renji so dressed up. He was wearing a white tuxedo with a black bow tie. The jacket of course had tails. Even Ishida commented on the great seam work upon entering the conversation.

"Happy Holidays, everyone," Ishida said as he walked up.

"Merry Christmas, Ishida," Orihime replied.

Tatsuki approached, and she extended her salutations to everyone.

"Ahh, Tatsuki, that's beautiful dress," Orihime commented on her dark blue evening gown, "you look great."

"Thanks, where's everyone else?"

"I don't know," Rukia started to reply.

They looked to the door as Rangiku and Toshiro walked in arm in arm. Renji and Rukia looked at each other slightly confused. Orihime hopped slightly and clapped her hands. Rangiku was dressed in an off white evening dress. It was shorter than most, but it still looked classy. Of course, the skirt was slightly below the knees as Hitsugaya demanded. If she wanted to wear one of her crazy sexy dresses, then he wouldn't be going. Rangiku didn't mind, as she still thought the dress hot. Besides she got to show off her dangling diamond earrings and matching necklace, which just went perfect with this outfit. Toshiro was wearing a classic tuxedo. However, he wore a white jacket because that most reminded him of a captain's shinigami uniform. Shortly after them, Urahara and Yoruichi entered. Orihime clapped even more for them. Urahara had Ishida sew him a custom tuxedo. The only thing was, it was striped green and white to match his cool hat. Even the bow tie was green and white, but stripped horizontally for some contrast. Still he had his clog sandals on though. Yoruichi was wearing a very elegant, red gown with a silky and shiny facade. Orihime smiled wider as the couple reminded her of a Christmas ornament. Shortly after, Chad entered the hall, dressed in an all black suit, with a dark purple and silver designed tie. Tatsuki took notice.

"Damn, Chad looks good," Tatsuki said.

"Don't Urahara and Yoruichi look like Christmas?" questioned Orihime.

"Yeah, Yeah," Tatsuki replied, still looking at Chad.

The group entering approached the group already in the hall to exchange pleasantries. Yoruichi noticed Rukia and Renji, and she said, "You two look great. You contrast each other very nicely. It must be a match made in Soul Society." Yoruichi smiled. Renji and Rukia both blushed. As they were about to try and respond, Orihime interjected. She overheard what Yoruichi said about contrast, and Orihime said, "Speaking of that, Yoruichi-san, you and Urahara-sama look so Christmassy."

Yoruichi laughed. "Yeah, y'know, I guess we do." She laughed a little more. "I'm glad you noticed that, Orihime, because I thought he was just being an idiot." She continued to laugh. Rukia and Renji felt relief, as they had been let off the hook.

Chad finally asked, "Where's Ichigo?"

"I figured when you came in he wouldn't be too far behind," snickered Tatsuki.

"Huh?" asked Chad, noticing Tatsuki for the first time. "Tatsuki, you look amazing."

"Thanks," she said disregarding the initial huh. "You look pretty dapper yourself."

"Would you like to dance?" Chad asked.

"Sure," she replied taking a hold oh Chad's arm.

Just then, Ichigo entered. He wasn't dressed up at all comparatively. He had just a button down shirt and a jacket along with his jeans and sneakers. He approached everyone and said hello. Urahara clasped Ichigo's shoulder and said, "See, now here's a guy who knows what it means to be comfortable."

"Comfortable?" Ichigo questioned, "Nobody told me this was a black tie event."

Urahara laughed, "My tie isn't black."

"Yeah, what are you? A Christmas ornament?" Ichigo asked, confused.

"Yes, yes we are," interjected Yoruichi.

"I thought the same thing, Ichigo-kun, when they walked in. Don't they look wonderful?" asked Orihime with so much excitement that everyone smiled.

The party went on, and everyone danced, and ate, and had a good time. Finally, the night came to a point of exchanging gifts. Many gifts were given, and exchanged. Ichigo looked at Orihime. She looked great, he thought, in her wonderful Christmas dress. Ichigo never remembered anyone who took so much delight in Christmas. Suddenly, doubt overwhelmed him, as if his gift was not good enough for her. Rangiku noticed Ichigo and sat down next to him.

"Is everything OK?" she asked.

"I don't know, I just got this feeling that my gift isn't good enough for Orihime," Ichigo explained to Rangiku.

"Nonsense, it's perfect."

"Yeah, just go and give it to her," Toshiro interjected, overhearing the two.

"I guess you're right. The sooner I do, the sooner I can get this night over with," said Ichigo. "Orihime, Merry Christmas," he said handing her the gift.

"Oh, thank you, Ichigo-kun, for me?" She accepted the gift and sat down next to Ichigo on the other side of Rangiku. Orihime began to unwrap her gift, and Ichigo started feeling more embarrassed. Rangiku looked on with excitement, as the gift was her suggestion. Orihime opened the box, and she screamed with delight.

"Oh my god, Ichigo-kun, it's stunning," she said looking at her gift. Her eyes widened, and she smiled. Wrapping her arms around Ichigo's neck, she hugged him tightly. "I can wear it on our wedding day," Orihime blurted out. Everyone looked at the two in wonderment. She blushed herself, as soon as she said it.

Ichigo, still blushing as well, said, "Uh, uh, I'm glad you like it."

"I have something for you too, Ichigo-kun," Orihime said, in some hopes to change the subject. She handed him her gift. Ichigo sat down to open it. Once he unwrapped his present, he found a photo album. He opened it and smiled, there were different pictures of him with all of his friends. There were ones with Rukia, Renji, Chad, Tatsuki, Ishida, his sisters and father, and some with Orihime as well. As he flipped from page to page, Ichigo laughed at moments. He could remember almost every moment when those pictures were taken. There was even one of old Yamamoto yelling at him, at which Ichigo laughed the hardest.

"Thank you, Orihime, this is great," he said as he gave her a hug. Ichigo continued flipping the pages, and the laughter stopped. His face turned slightly sad as he got to the last few pages. There, as he stared down at the pictures, were images of Ichigo and his mother, Masaki. Tears began to fill his eyes.

"Thank you, Orihime," Ichigo said as he got up and walked out of the hall with the photo album still under his arm.

Orihime felt horrible, as if she had made a mistake. Maybe she gave Ichigo the wrong gift. Isshin noticed Orihime. He sat down next to her, and he put an arm around her shoulder. Orihime began to cry, feeling that she had hurt her best friend, no, the man she loved, and, on Christmas. Isshin just pulled her closer and let her weep a bit.

"It's OK," Isshin finally said in an effort to console Orihime.

"I just wanted to remind him of the good times in his life," Orihime explained.

"I know, I know. Those are picture he still really needs to see, Orihime. I'm just glad they could come from you," Isshin spoke.

"Why, so he can hate me for hurting him?" Orihime cried.

"He doesn't hate you. He just doesn't know how to deal with some emotions, and to process them in front of people, well..." explained Isshin. Everyone looked at Isshin confused at this new found wisdom, but Urahara just smiled. "I'll tell you what, why don't you go and talk to him," Isshin said to Orihime. "He couldn't have got too far."

"OK," Orihime cried some more. She agreed because, at least, it would give her an excuse to leave, as well.

Orihime walked outside, wiping the tears from her eyes. She pretty much subjected herself to the fact that she would just go home. She felt she had done enough damage. She walked down the stairs of the hall and up the walkway a little until she passed the big tree out front on the lawn. As she passed the tree, Orihime sobbed.

"Orihime," she heard. "Is that you? Why are you crying?" Ichigo stood up from beneath the tree, and went over to hold her. "Come on, this tree will make you feel better. It did for me."

"Really," she still sobbed a little, "you're not mad anymore."

"I was never mad, Orihime. This is the most thoughtful gift anyone has ever given me."

"You mean it? You don't hate me?" inquired Orihime, as her crying subsided.

"Of course, I don't hate you, Orihime. You're sweet, you always have been. It's just when I see my Mom, sometimes I don't know how to react. These pictures just reminded me of how much I miss her."

"I just wanted you to remember the good times, and good things in your life."

"You have, Orihime, and one of the best things in my life is you. So, what do you say, we go make this a good time." Ichigo took Orihime by the hand and led her back to the hall. As they entered, everyone was dancing, eating and talking. They could see Urahara, Yoruichi, Toshiro, and Rangiku laughing and conversing at one of the tables. "See," Ichigo said to Orihime, "everybody is laughing and having a good time. They barely even noticed us. Come on."

"OK," Orihime replied quietly, letting him lead her by the hand still.

They approached the table at which Rangiku and company were sitting. The four looked up at Ichigo and Orihime with smiles. "Hey, you two lovebirds trying to get out of here early huh?" Rangiku joked. Ichigo blushed at her statement, while Orihime gave her a half-halfhearted slap on the arm, and said, "Stop it." Orihime giggled a little and blushed as well.

Renji and Rukia came and sat down at the table to make sure everything was alright. They all had food and ate some Christmas cake, and shared laughs. Suddenly Rangiku looked over and saw Chad and Ishida dancing with Tatsuki and Michuru. She looked at Urahara and Yoruichi, and smiled.

"I think now is the time," Rangiku said, "look at your friends over there. At least, some of you youngsters still remember how to have fun. What do you say guys, should we show the youth how to dance?" Urahara and Yoruichi laughed.

Urahara took Rukia's hand. "Would you like to dance, my dear?" Rukia took his hand and followed onto the dance floor. Renji looked on a little agitated, wishing he could be as smooth as Urahara.

Yoruichi looked at Renji, stood up and said, "You gonna let them show us up? C'mon, let's show them how to cut a rug." Renji smiled and took Yoruichi's hand. He pretended to lead her onto the floor, but most of the room could tell she was doing the leading.

"OK, mister, your turn," Rangiku said to Ichigo, "and don't you dare think about turning me down." After all that had already happened tonight, Ichigo stood up and took Rangiku's hand.

"Sure, why not?" he said.

Orihime smiled at all of her friends having fun. She looked over at Toshiro, and she asked, "Captain?"

"Oh, alright," Toshiro responded reluctantly, "would you like to dance?"

"It would be my honor, Captain," Orihime said, taking hold of his arm.

While on the dance floor, Urahara and Yoruichi kept positioning Rukia and Renji closer. They kept dancing around until they came to almost the same spot. The song changed and became slower. Urahara pulled Rukia in close, and he tried to show off his dancing prowess. Upon seeing Renji's face turn red, Yoruichi said, "Why don't you just go say something?"

"What would I say," he asked Yoruichi.

"Oh, I don't know, how about 'Do you mind if I cut in?'" she replied to Renji.

"OK, fine. Hey, old man, I;m cutting in, alright?" Renji said, as he tapped Urahara's shoulder.

"Ah, I thought you would never ask, my friend. And, though Rukia is a beautiful dance partner, I'm anxious to get back to my own," Urahara explained, as he swept Yoruichi in his arms and dipped her. Her head looked up at Rukia and Renji, and Yoruichi smiled. They looked back at her in confusion.

"By the way," Yoruichi pointed up towards the ceiling, "You two are under the mistletoe." She smiled again, as Urahara picked her back up and danced away.

Orihime was having fun dancing with Toshiro, though she wasn't so sure he was having fun. He just kept thinking to himself, just get her closer to Rangiku. Sometimes it seemed almost as if he were pushing Orihime more than dancing with her.

Ichigo was actually letting loose for a change. Rangiku was a good dancer. They swung around, shook it up, and finally, Ichigo even dipped Rangiku. She arched her back, with his arm underneath, looked up at the ceiling and laughed.

"What?" inquired Ichigo. "Did I do something wrong? Why are you laughing?"

"No, you've been perfect, absolutely perfect," she replied.

"Well, what so funny then?" asked Ichigo.

Rangiku laughed again, and pointed up. Ichigo, doing his best not to drop her, turned his head toward the ceiling. Rangiku, still laughing, said, "Ichigo, we're under the mistletoe."

Ichigo looked embarrassed as Toshiro and Orihime walked up at the same moment. In truth, Toshiro got tired of trying to dance Orihime that way, and decided just to walk up instead. Ichigo felt a little more relieved since there were four of them now under the mistletoe, and that would never work. Still, slightly distracted, Ichigo said, "Toshiro, Orihime, are you having fun?"

"Oh yes, Ichigo-kun..." Orihime replied.

"Oh, no you don't, mister," Rangiku interrupted, "I got danced under a mistletoe, I demand my reward."

As Orihime and Ichigo looked on with surprise, Rangiku pulled Toshiro close to herself and planted a big kiss on his lips. Ichigo was shocked and relieved at the same time. Rangiku pulled away from Toshiro, and the two of them laughed. Rangiku, pointing up, said, "Now it's your guys turn. You're still under the mistletoe." She walked off with her arm around Toshiro's shoulder, and he had his around her waist. For once, Toshiro didn't pull away.

Ichigo and Orihime looked at each other and blushed. Ichigo, embarrassed, started to say, "We don't ha..."

"No," Orihime broke in, "It's Christmas tradition, and we can't break tradition." She smiled, and pulled Ichigo close to herself. They shared a very passionate and sensual Christmas kiss.

The party wound down, and all the people of Karakura town started to make their way home. Ichigo, being a gentleman, and slightly infatuated at having kissed Orihime decided to walk her home. The entire time he was walking with her, and holding her hand, Ichigo couldn't help but think that his gift was still not enough. Suddenly, an idea struck him.

Late that night, or early Christmas morning, Ichigo got up and went out to the most open place he could find in town. There, in one of those wild fields, Ichigo unleashed his reiatsu, as far up into the atmosphere as he could. His vast reiatsu heated up the water molecules in the sky. As this started to happen, Ichigo brought his reiatsu back to himself. The atmosphere was still ice cold, so the now newly heated water droplets froze. A few hours later, as morning first started, Orihime awoke. She looked out her window in amazement. The largest snowfall she had ever seen, was falling before her eyes, on this Christmas Day.

"Ichigo-kun, Ichigo-kun, wake up!"

"What is it?" Ichigo asked, still tired from using his reiatsu, but happy that he was waking to Orihime's smiling face.

"Look, out the window, Ichigo-kun. It's snowing, isn't it beautiful."

Ichigo got out of the bed, and walked over to the window. He put his arms around Orihime's waist, holding her from behind. He gazed upon the huge smile and bright eyes of Orihime, as she looked out upon this amazement. "Yes," he answered, "It is absolutely the most beautiful thing I have ever seen."

She held the front of his arms around herself, and she felt content and peaceful. Ichigo said, "Merry Christmas, Orihime!"


End file.
